Travel by road to know farmers' plight; avoid helicopter: Shobha to CM

Mysuru, May 8: The State BJP on Sunday sought that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah travel by road during his tours and stop taking helicopter rides so that he could understand the plight of farmers reeling under drought.

Addressing a press conference in Mysuru on the sidelines of the BJP state executive meeting here, party state general secretary and MP Shobha Karandlaje said Siddaramaiah was taking the helicopter route for touring districts. “How can he understand the suffering of farmers from air. Let him land from the sky and take the road,” she said.

Shobha said Siddaramaiah should come out with a White Paper on the grants received by the state during the 10 years of UPA rule and the last three years of the NDA regime for drought relief.

She was responding to criticism by Siddaramaiah that the Centre is not releasing grants to the state. On the concluding day of the state executive, the party passed two resolutions, one congratulating the Narendra Modi government for delivering a host of pro-people programmes during the last three years and the other criticising the state government for its failure to take up drought relief works.

The next BJP state executive meeting will be held in Ballari on July 22 and July 23 this year. BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa made the announcement at the valedictory of the executive meeting. The media was completely kept out the venue of the BJP state executive meeting on the concluding day on Sunday. The meeting held at Rajendra Kalamandira had barricades placed at four levels to ensure that only delegates with registration badges get entry into the venue. The bad press the BJP received on the first day of the meeting due to the open rift in the party is said to be the reason for keeping the media at bay.